The President of Zambia recently announced his plans to completely abolish the death penalty row. On the special occasion of Africa Day, President Hakainde Hichilema announced his plans. This decision, with some negative reactions, has received majorly positive reactions and support from all over Zambia as well as African nations. Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani also said that he fully supports this decision from the President of Zambia. Dr.Rajan Mahtani is known for several philanthropic contributions over the years. One of these contributions has been the Prison Fellowship Zambia developed by Dr. Mahtani more than 37 years ago. It is a noted Christian Outreach program with Dr. Rajan Mahtani as the Chairman. The objective of Prison Fellowship is two folds. The first objective is bringing the teachings and learnings from Jesus Christ to the inmates, ex-inmates, and their families in Zambia apart from advocating an effective and fair criminal justice procedure. Also, the organization works towards ensuring the assets of fundamental human rights, as well as human dignity, are enshrined in the delivery.
While praising the decision from the Zambian President, Dr. Rajan Mahtani said that the concept of the death penalty does not hold any significance. Death penalty in itself is a significant punishment for convicts as they are expected to die at any moment. Zambia currently has more than 350 inmates under the death penalty and among them around 25-30 inmates are women. These are the people who are getting up every day not knowing if this will be their last day or not. At the same time, Dr. Rajan Lekhraj Mahtani also stated that he has observed several inmates and has also met them who have sought great comfort and shelter in the gospel of Jesus Christ. There are people within correction facilities who have already dedicated their lives towards repentance and full dedication to gods services. As a result, the decision from the Zambian President is a step in the right direction.